And, did you know that kids today are reading less than ever?


The Scary Stats

• As of 2011, America was the only free-market country where the current generation was less educated than the previous one.
• Kids today are reading at three grade levels below what kids were reading one-hundred years ago.
• Nearly 85% of the juveniles who face trial in the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate, proving that there is a close relationship between illiteracy and crime. More than 60% of all inmates are functionally illiterate
• A person with poor literacy is more likely to live in a non-working household, live in overcrowded housing, and is less likely to vote.

Finding a good book is not just a matter of luck. With kids especially, it can take effort and persistence to get them buried in a quality book. If your child is a reluctant reader, or a lazy reader like my boys used to be, chances are they just haven't clicked with the right books yet. But you can change that, and your efforts will be more than worth it. For starters, kids who read for pleasure have higher math scores, better social IQs, and a greater likelihood of job satisfaction down the road. But they're not going to get these benefits by reading Captain Underpants, I'm sorry to say. (My kids have tried time and again to have me think otherwise.) 

From policy makers, to teachers, down to individual readers everyone seems to be lowering the standards when it comes to reading. Kids today are reading at three grade levels below what kids were reading 100 years ago. And in general, kids in America will read less every year they grow older. With all the access to literature and leaps in technology, how can we regress so deeply? 

The parks my kids ask to go to most often are the parks where they spend the littlest time on the playground, and especially the parks where there is water close by. My boys can sense a creek from a mile away. No swingset can compare to mud, sticks, smashed cans and other curious litter discoveries at the creekside. 

I found six of these lovely dining chairs at my favorite antique store, but the seats were fabric --- and I have four sons --- and fabric covered chairs would not last one snack time in my kitchen. Still I was determined to have these chairs, and I was determined to cover them in white drop cloth. So I figured out a way! Now, two years later you can see they are holding up quite nicely! To make your own drop cloth seat covers you will need:

I am a caramel snob.

I have been known to judge the local chocolateirs by how good their caramel is. Sure they can make pretty, glossy little designs on their chocolates, but can they make caramel? Chewy, buttery, perfectly golden caramel that stretches in your fingers and melts in your mouth? If not, then I’m not interested.